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  1. Gladiolus83

    Gladiolus83 Contributor Contributor

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    How do I avoid making this power OP?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Gladiolus83, Mar 19, 2020.

    In the world I have created everyone is born with one element that they can create and manipulate. Most get either fire, water, air or earth, however there are those who get unique elements too. Recently I got a new idea I'm looking to incorporate into my story. That one character has the element of Void. A little thinking gave me the idea that this would manifest in the character being able to nullify the power of others. That also mean the character has big potential for going into overly-powerful territory. So I need to set some limits to the power. Unfortunately, I’m drawing blanks right now and would be grateful for suggestions to help me out.
     
  2. Necronox

    Necronox Contributor Contributor

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    Without knowing anything about your magic system, i would say does it have drawbacks?

    For instance, maybe using your magic is taxing, and his (void) is more taxing then normal and thus can only sustain for limited periods of time.
    Alternatively, it maybe only affects certain types of people (like a counter to only specific elements)?
    Also, you could have it so it only nullifies effects on him, or a limited number of people. For example, maybe he can cast it as a type of shield over either himself or anyone else, making that person invulnerable to elemental attack (maybe also nullifying the protectee's own power?).

    Either way, to make something not OP. usually you can do multiple things:
    Limit the effectiviness of the power (e.g it doesn't cancel out the other's magic, just dampens it).
    Limit the breadth of the power (e.g only affects X number of ppl)
    Limit the scope of the power (e.g only affects within 5 meters and/or only affects magic that is already cast, etc..)
    It has a cost (e.g uses stamina, life force, whatever)
    it has other repucussions (for instance, everytime he uses it something happens to him. I remember reading a book about a person with shapeshifting powers, but evertime he did shapeshift he became more and more bestial, eventually loosing his humanity altogether)
     
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  3. Fervidor

    Fervidor Senior Member

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    Well, you could always start by watching the anime To Aru Majutsu No Index, because that's basically what you're describing here: It's set in a world where both magic and psychic powers exist, and the main character's only power is nullifying all other supernatural abilities - beyond that he's really just good at street fighting. His basic approach is to shut down whatever his opponents are throwing at him and then beating them up.

    It mainly works because despite technically being insanely powerful (in that it basically ignores how powerful his opponent is) this ability is also very limited: His power is focused to his right hand which needs to physically touch whatever he wants it to affect. However, since his hand it part of his body, it does cancel out potentially beneficial powers like telepathic communication, teleportation and healing magic. He's even characterized as unusually unlucky, because apparently ordinary luck is considered to be a sort of supernatural phenomenon. He also isn't able to protect himself from mundane side-effects of other powers, like explosions, telekineticaly hurled objects, etc. For a guy who could theoretically kill God, he's consistently at a disadvantage in most of his fights.

    The manga Psyren did something very similar, with the main hero having the power to basically create psychic black holes that "devoured" other psychic powers, along with physical matter, making it hard to defend against. Though, it was also a highly destructive power that proved very difficult for him to control, only affected a limited space, and was eventually revealed to not be completely immune from influence from other powers since they still needed to interact with his.

    Basically, try to think of ways the ability can be troublesome for your hero to use. Say, because it comes with a lot of strict conditions, is very dangerous, very taxing, or all of those things. When thinking of cool powers it may be tempting to explore how far you can take them, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of power fantasy, but limitations make for better storytelling.

    (Also, keep in mind that "overpowered" is a relative term: Your hero is only overpowered in relation to his antagonists.)

    Personally, I don't really use power nullification very often because I think it's sort of inherently boring: It reduces the possibilities of a confrontation rather expanding them. The few times I've resorted to it, it has come with some hefty restrictions.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2020
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  4. TheWriterValiant

    TheWriterValiant Banned

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    You could set up your magic system so that a characters ability to use their power depends on something. Like how much energy they have or if they have been trained to use their power. This would restrict the users ability to fight or make use of their power. Say your character is trying to nullify another person who is better trained then they are, they would have to use more energy faster because the person they are fighting can hold out longer. This would limit what they can do.

    As another example I have a character who has very powerful fire magic that is connected to the sun. They are more powerful when the weather is warm and the sun is high then in the middle of a cold dark night. This is another way to restrict power.

    This like this tend to depend on the type of magic system you have and the characters themselves. So I can't provide you with a truly good answer. But I hope this is helpful to you.
     
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  5. Gladiolus83

    Gladiolus83 Contributor Contributor

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    Thanks for the advice! And do not take this the wrong way, I knew about most of these already and was sort of a little curious to see if there was a way that maybe I didn’t know about (which I also guess there was)

    @Fervidor Just one little thing... The one with the Void is not one of the protagonists. He is one of the antagonists, and as such he still needs to pose a threat.
     
  6. TheWriterValiant

    TheWriterValiant Banned

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    I'm glad to be helpful in any way I can. As far as I know there are not a lot of ideas out there when it comes to something like this.
     
  7. Thorn Cylenchar

    Thorn Cylenchar Senior Member

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    1. Radius- The character can only nullify powers within a certain radius. Whether that means that he just stops people from being able to use their powers or if it negates the effects of their powers is up to you(ex: if someone tries to hit him with a flaming fist, it is no longer flaming, but if they shoot a fireball from beyond his radius, will it get through or will is dissipate at the edge of his field?

    2. Usage- does it require energy to use magic? If it does, would it require equal or greater to squelch it? Especially over large areas? This could lead to him being perpetually hungry or exhausted.

    3. Directed- His negation ray acts like a gun and is line of sight, if he can't see the target he can't negate it.

    4. Dissipate-If acts like a wave, you can have it dissipate like sound waves when hits a barrier- stronger the barrier, stronger the block unless character really cranks out the power. This can work with #1 above as the farther out it gets, it weakens. This could make him crippling up close, but weaker against those who use longer range attacks.


    This isn't really related to your question, but as character is a villain, a potential way to have his powers work to make him fearsome, you can then apply one of the ideas above

    If magic in this setting is mental, have his 'void' essentially work waves of disorientation, the closer they are to him, the worse the disruption (up close makes it feel like head is being crushed in a vice and ripped apart, farther out feels like an icepick, ect). If acts like a wave, you can have it dissipate like sound waves when hits a barrier
     
  8. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    I'm thinking that you need to go to Austin Powers - the son of Dr Evil. As he kept saying to his father - "Just kill him. Shoot him". That I think is the way to make him scary. Granted he has no offensive power. But that's alright. He can nullify attacks against him, not to mention the psychic / magic defenses of his enemies - and then he just shoots them. No if's but's and maybe's, he just walks up to his most dangerous enemies and shoots them. End of story. He doesn't need super flaming fists of megadeath. He doesn't need advanced martial arts. He's a black belt in the martial art of "Gun".

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  9. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    I've heard this somewhere before. He doesn't have this power in his right hand, does he?
     
  10. Fervidor

    Fervidor Senior Member

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    In that case, I'm not sure "overpowered" is the problem here - I don't really think bad guys can be OP, because the more formidable they are the more tense and suspenseful their confrontation with the hero will be, which makes it more impactful and satisfying when the hero wins. Readers do tend to cheer for the underdog. The whole reason overpowering is problem for heroes is because it makes their victories seem too easy. With villains it's the other way around.

    Rather, I'd worry that power nullification is too passive for a villain. Like I said, that's why I'm not terribly fond it: It's hard to make it dramatic and awe-inspiring. It's also inherently defensive which doesn't make for very imposing antagonists.
     
  11. Gladiolus83

    Gladiolus83 Contributor Contributor

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    Well he isn’t the ”last boss” but rather someone that character uses because his powers are helpful. But maybe he might need something more than just nullification... Can’t change his element being Void though. Sort of need it to complete the lore I’ve based the main characters on. Not to mention my plans for the final battle also depend on it.
     
  12. shiba0000

    shiba0000 Member

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    If his only ability is to nullify other powers, you could always just beat him to death with your hands. His limiter would be the need to cooperate with other characters to do anything.
     

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